Australia has changed the order in which it processes skilled visa applications—for the second time in two months.
On September 19, the Department of Home Affairs revoked Ministerial Direction 119, which had been in force only since July 25, and replaced it with two new frameworks. Direction 121 covers temporary skilled visas. Direction 122 covers provisional and permanent ones.
The principle behind both is the same: what an applicant does now matters more than where they are. Under the old rules, being inside Australia moved most applications up the queue. Now the sector comes first.
The rules also apply to applications already lodged and still undecided.
Who moves up
- Farming, fishing and mining. Agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources join the top tier, alongside construction, healthcare, teaching, defense and law enforcement. One caveat: the priority attaches to specific positions, not to every job at a qualifying employer.
- Applicants outside Australia in those sectors. A priority-sector application now reaches the top tier no matter where it is filed.
- High earners. Direction 121 creates a separate high-priority place for the Specialist Skills stream of the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482). It sits just behind the priority sectors.
Who moves down
- Applicants in non-priority fields. Being in Australia still helps. It simply no longer beats a priority-sector application filed from overseas. Technology, marketing, hospitality, and professional services now wait behind those applicants.
- Families applying from overseas. The overseas tier is reserved for people applying alone. An application that includes a partner or children falls to the last tier.
- Regional applicants and accredited sponsors. Neither a regional subclass nor accredited sponsor status brings automatic priority. That change came in July under Direction 119, and the new rules keep it. Regional subclasses still operate normally.
What applicants should do
Check the occupation code. Australia still assesses skilled visas using ANZSCO codes (which classify and define jobs based on skill levels, qualifications, and experience), which determine which tier an application falls into.
Then get the file ready. Applicants in a priority sector should upload health checks, English test results, and police certificates before an officer opens the case so the file can be decided in one pass.
Applicants with in-demand skills and a strong salary offer should also check whether the role meets the Specialist Skills threshold.
